Black crosses built by artist Roberto Marquez stand outside of the Allen outlet mall. Photo courtesy of Roberto Marquez.
A memorial for the victims of the Allen Premium Outlets mass shooting will be taken down Tuesday morning, NBCDFW reports.
Allen fire department officials will help deconstruct the memorial along with community members who have been involved in overseeing it. Pieces of the memorial will be distributed to family members of the eight victims.
Oak Cliff artist Roberto Marquez has heavily been involved in the construction of the memorial, having built the large black crosses that read the names of each victim. Marquez travels the country to locations where mass shootings have occurred to erect similar displays.
In May 2022, he gained attention after traveling to Uvalde, Texas and building a memorial for the nineteen students and two teachers who died in the Robb Elementary School mass shooting.
Marquez also built a large canvas wall outside of the Allen Premium Outlets and encouraged mourners to join together in painting it. The wall is now covered in phrases such as “Allen Strong,” “your life will not be in vain” and “we won’t forget.” Images of hearts, crosses and angel wings fit the spaces between words.
Marquez told the Advocate he hopes a gallery will take the community painting once the memorial is removed, so that it can remain a reminder of the tragedy that inspired it.
